New VR headset that lets you shop clothes in mixed-reality stores to frame future of fashion

AI-powered adverts, VR boutiques and smart personal shoppers — the future of fashion is here
The Honolux headset mimics the real-life experience of in-store shopping

At Oval Space in Bethnal Green the walls are lined with model photos and mannequins stand proudly in chic designer dresses. In the centre of the room stilletos and handbags circle on a rotating belt. It looks like any other luxury fashion boutique but there’s a crucial difference: it’s all in your head(set).

And it’s all being brought to you via Hololux, a new gadget that lets you shop in an immersive, mixed-reality fashion store, anywhere in the world. Just put on the high-tech glasses and you can browse Net-a-Porter by brand or product as though you’re in a real store: walk around the room, peruse the products in 3D, and take your favourites to the checkout.

Just like shopping on the high street, it’s social too: friends can wear headsets and shop together, and it links up with your social media feed so you can share the contents of your shopping bag with your followers.

Hololux was unveiled this week at the Future of Fashion Incubator in Bethnal Green, a showcase looking at how cutting-edge technology could transform the industry, from AI-powered billboards to apps that know what’s in your wardrobe.

The team behind Design by Data, an app that tracks garments through their life cycle

The showcase is a collaboration between Microsoft and the London College of Fashion, and focuses on the possibilities for AI, the internet of things and mixed reality in fashion.

The Honolux experience feels realistic and tactile. Plus, by seeing the items in 3D, you can get an idea of their size, unlike current online shopping apps. One day, mixed reality will even let you try the products on for size, says creator Antonio Arocho, a student at LCF.

Other apps are focusing on creating a real in-store experience. Augmenta is pitched at designers who want to design a bricks and mortar boutique: it’s a mixed-reality interior design app for retail spaces, which allows you to place objects such as desks and tills within the real world space around you.

"It shows you a Matrix-like wire frame over the environment and detects the floor, walls, ceiling, chairs. It can then place objects within that,” explains Peter Hill., Technical Manager 3D Design and Material Science at LCFF.

Like Hololux, you wear a headset to visualise the space. Moving mannequins around with my fingers felt surreal, but the result gives a much better idea of perspective and space than any sketch could.

One day, this will be the only way of designing, says its creator Zackie Despoina Zachariadou, a fashion media production masters student at LCF. She’s already working with Canadian fashion designer Hayley Elsaesser to plan her upcoming pop-up store in London.

AI is also having a moment in fashion. Google Lens uses AI technology for its new “style match” feature, which helps you find clothes that suit you based on similar items you already like, while fashion designer Mark Dinoulis has designed this in a more tangible form for the high street. His new SmartSigns technology, also launched at the showcase this week, is an AI-powered billboard that uses cameras to identify what you’re wearing and shows you personalised adverts as you approach; a new take on personal shopping.

Other personalised approaches include that of Design By Data, which is using RFID chips to track garments through their lifecycles, in order to collect information on how the clothing’s design could be improved.

All eyes on the future of fashion.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in